Nazareth’s Same-Sex Wedding PolicyWithout hesitation, Nazareth loves and welcomes all people. We are all – straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – sinners in need of God’s grace. As a church, we stand against the oppression and bullying of LGBTQ people. We confess that, at times, self-righteous and legalistic Christians are the biggest oppressors of LGBTQ people, and such behavior is both outrageously unfaithful and a gross misrepresentation of Christ’s love. As a result of our grace-based approach to ministry, Nazareth is blessed to be the church home for a significant number of LGBTQ people in our community.

At the same time, we reject the false assumption that love comes with the qualifier of full agreement with all behavioral choices. We believe that – according to Scripture, and in unity with nearly twenty centuries of Christian teaching – God established marriage as a holy union to be shared between one man and one woman.

While we recognize and respect the laws of our government that extend civil marriage privileges to same-sex couples, as a church we are bound to the laws of God, and therefore cannot in good conscience step outside those boundaries to host a same-sex wedding in our church building, or preside at a same-sex wedding offsite.

For a more thorough theological explanation of what Nazareth teaches about sexual boundaries, please click here.